An Interview with Chef Nobu Matsuhisa at His New Royal Monceau Raffles Hotel Restaurant in Paris

Almost 30 years since the world-famous Mr Nobuyuki 'Nobu' Matsuhisa opened the original Matsuhisa restaurant in Beverly Hills with his star dish of black cod that got celebrity tongues wagging far and wide, the 67-year-old chef who has more than 30 restaurants in 28 countries in the world, is still going strong with a new outpost at the Royal Monceau Raffles Hotel in Paris. I caught up with the chef on his last visit to the French capital to talk about his latest venture, and despite his long years living in the lime light of his global success, he was surprisingly relaxed and modest about his achievements, and had the kind of peaceful inspirational wisdom that leaves a lasting impression.

The Japanese-born chef started out by learning the art of sushi-making, and when at the age of 22 one of his regular customers in Tokyo invited him to open a restaurant in Lima, Peru, he jumped at the chance. “I had never left Japan, and my dream was to travel the world,” remembers Mr Matsuhisa. “When I went to Peru, I realised that different cultures meant different foods - I was so excited to taste their food and to learn about their culture.”

After Lima, he opened a restaurant in Alaska, which burned down shortly after but he didn’t give up. In 1977, he moved to Los Angeles and ten years later he opened his restaurant in Beverly Hills, which three decades on is still a prized local institution. Since his Californian debut, Nobu's become a household name. He has opened numerous Nobu restaurants across the world in partnership with Hollywood actor Robert de Niro, as well as several Matsuhisa restaurants and a handful of boutique Nobu hotels.

“Matsuhisa restaurants are different to Nobu restaurants in that they are smaller, more intimate and more upscale, but the concept of the food, the mix between Japanese and Latin American cuisine, is the same,” the chef explains.

While Nobu has now traveled all over the globe, and continues to do so to oversee his restaurants, it’s that first taste of Peruvian cuisine that’s stuck and continues to define his cuisine. “It’s not Nikkei or fusion,” he insists. “It’s Nobu style. It means that the cooking is still Japanese but with some ingredients and styles from Peru like cilantro, jalapeno peppers and ceviche. But I wouldn’t say it’s a fusion.”

Opened last March, Matsuhisa at the Royal Monceau Raffles Paris is helmed by Hideki Endo, a young master sushi chef whose work Nobu has followed during the young chef’s time working in Hong Kong. “I am here because people gave me opportunities. Then I worked hard. Now it’s my turn to give the next generation an opportunity. It’s Hideki’s challenge. Now it’s up to him to work hard!” Nobu chuckles.

Located across the hall from the entrance, the lofty restaurant designed by Philippe Starck is cosy and intimate, the perfect setting for Nobu’s first Matsuhisa restaurant in France. “I am happy to open a restaurant in Paris because it’s such an elegant city with many people who travel a lot and who are knowledgeable about food. In fact, I see a lot of my regular customers in Paris.”

Although the location and interiors of Matsuhisa restaurants vary, certain aspects remain true to Japanese culture – for instance, the brigade of sushi chefs welcome guests into the restaurant with a hearty greeting in unison from behind their open counters, just like in Japan.

Matsuhisa at Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris. (c) Romeo Balancourt

On the menu, diners will find Matsuhisa staples like the world-famous signature black cod in miso, as well as the Omakase (meaning dishes selected by the chef) tasting menu, and the bento box at lunchtime, among the usual sashimi and maki. However, Nobu likes to use as many local ingredients as possible. “In France, there are some really great products – for instance, during oyster season I love to try and use them in the cooking. There’s also great sea bass, scampi…,” says the chef. “But my aim in the future is to try to introduce Japanese fish to the menu – France has soft water eel and I’d like to bring our seawater eel – it’s very difficult to get here.”

As well as the cooking and the atmosphere of his restaurants, Nobu insists that his cuisine is to be shared. “If you come here with a boyfriend or husband, order one of several things to share and then the Omakase menu. Sharing is my concept – then you can talk about it together,” the chef advises me ethusiastically.

Looking around inside the restaurant, every table is full of locals come for business meetings as well as ladies at lunch. And as successful as Matsuhisa at the Royal Monceau is turning out to be, it’s not Nobu’s first attempt at opening a Parisian outpost. “I tried for the first time in 2001 but we closed it less than two years later – it didn’t work out,” he explains. “This time around, I decided to try again because of Tasos Ioannidis, my business partner. He has the knowledge of Europe that maybe I was lacking before.”

In 2001, Nobu wasn’t the only entrepreneur trying to break ground when it comes to Japanese cuisine. At the same time, his business partner Mr Ioannidis, originally from Greece, was trying to open a Japanese restaurant at his family’s hotel in Mykonos. “At that time, this was unheard of in Greece, where there were only one or two Japanese restaurants,” remembers Mr Ioannidis. “We were struggling to find our own chef until we met Nobu, whom we convinced of what we were doing, so he came and cooked for us at our pop-up in Mykonos.”

Since Mykonos in 2003, the pair have opened restaurants in St Moritz, Athens, Munich and Paris and will be heading to Cyprus in 2018. For Mr Ioannidis, Nobu's cooking style is unique, “It’s a passionate experience of many different tastes. It’s not like a straight-forward three-course meal – here, you have the opportunity to taste many more flavours; that’s what’s amazing for me.”

However, for the chef, a good restaurant isn’t just about the food, “You need patience. And good teamwork, strong leaders, good teachers and energy – not just cooking,” he explains.

So now that he’s sampled cooking and cultures from all around the world, what’s his dream, I ask him. “You know my dream was to travel the world. Now I travel ten months of the year. I am very lucky, I can’t complain. I try to live in the present - I am living my dream!" He smiles, his eyes twinkling. "But you know, sometimes I like to stay home in L.A. and I don’t like to see anybody except my family. No one, no phone, nothing. I like to keep energy to make new energy – that is very important.”

Despite having failed once before in Paris, Mr Matsuhisa doesn’t feel the pressure. “You know, I am living my dream but this Paris restaurant is my revenge, my challenge. I’ve had many problems in life. When I was young, I made mistakes but that never worried me because, you know, you learn from your mistakes, so whatever’s broken, something new always comes of it.”